Automatic counting device



Jan. 15, 1935.

S. J. THACKERAY AUTOMATI C COUNT ING DEVI CE Filed sept. 12,A 1935 2Sheets-Sheet l Jan. l5, 1935. s. J. THAcKl-:RAY

AUTOMATIC COUNTING DEVICE Filed sept. 12, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l llPatented Jan. 15, 1935 PAT EN T OF'F'ICE Application-septmberlrz,leaaserial Nb. 689,117

a'cterl 'Afnother object'of 'the invent-ion"is"to provide adevce ofthestatedcharacterthatmaybe used as 'an' *automatic trip` foi' SCDmechanism foi 1wig predetenninednunibers of operations,

"example, of 'a' machine'with which `said mechanismv is'lassociated.

The invention further? resides in the novel sti'uctral 'details Y'and^`arrangements of parts hereinafter `set` forth' --and illustrated 1 in"the i attache'd drawings', in which:

1 isy v-a f plan' Viewfo'f one 'embediment of rny{ invention;

elevations of thedeviceNslrowniniFig.'1;

f Fig.- `l4^ is'fa` section onfthe line Fig.: 3,'v andFigt--fiswafsection on1th`e=l=ine5v5, F'ig.k 1. -`Withreference*tofthelrlrawings, the" device comprises :in-'zthefil'lustratediembodimenta `hase frame 1 including a pair ofspacedfsidexplates 2,12. .Journaled'inone ofthe side plates 'is a shaft3\which carriesf'a-t its outer' end, andinthe present instanceadjustably secured thereto, -a lever arm-4. The innerend off thefshaft 3carries a U-shaped member 5 whose parallel arms lie respectivelyAadjacent the inner faces of the side plates v2', ,2Q

Projectingthroughy and journaled'in the opposite sideplate'2 .is anestof shafts 6 7 and 8; the inner endof the shaft 6V having alreducedextensiony 9journaledin the inner end'of the shaft73', see Fig. 5, The.'shafts 3, v6, 7 a'nd`8 are coaxial.

`Carried'at the inner'end'ofithe' shaft 6 is a ratchetwheello; whileVatv the inner ends of the hollow shafts-7'v and"8"are similar" ratchetwheels 11-and 12"respectivel`y. A'fourth'ratchet wheel 13 ofthe seriesiscarried by anarm 14 journaled on-the shaftB. and projecting as shown in'broken 'lines -inFg'.,4beyondlthe edge of the pla-tes'2,l 2. AsshowninFig. 5,'.theffr'ee end ofthe U-shaped merber 5 lals'o is journaledupon'tliev shaft 8;

`The shafts.6,` 7 and8, which u'der'no'rmal conditions are free torotate independently, each carriesatit'souter en'djadisk,15,'16an'd`1'7, respectively, which in the presentv instancearedecagonal in form, and-as showninFig. 1, the atperipheral'facets ofvthese disks carry nurn- -bers ranging from zero to nine. Also each ofythe ratchet wheels has tenteeth, and the'space betweenl oneset. ofteeth.-isfrecessed, as shown at 18 in "Fig 4L The ratchet wheelsarenormally releasably retained in theirrespective adjustedpositionsbyaseries of detentsslg, 19, one for each .ratchet wheel, whichdetente are pivotally moutedupona shaft 20 mounted in-andextendingbetween'the side plates'2; As shown in Fig. f4," these'detents'have teeth 21 which are shapedto'jegage'theteeth of theirrespective ratchet wheelstothereby prevent a reverse rotation'of thelatter. l

operativelyassociated' with each of the detents 19 isa spring 22whichiscarried'by apin 23 extendingbetweenthe side-plates 2 and whichhas i anns respectively engaging the associated dete'nt 19"ar`1d a rod24- also extending between theside plates v20,-as4 shown in Fig. l. Arod 2`5jprojecting transverselyfrom one side of theleverltis-"adaptedWhenthis lever is elevated to engagethe upperends ofthe detente 1-9to throwallofthedetent's rearwardly and out of engagementwith the ratchet wheels which they re'speetivelyengageffor a purposehereinafter set forth. -A coiled -spring 26'secu`red to the pin 24andito'the inner end of v theY arm-14 tends to hold the -saidi'arm inthe-nornal pos-iticnin which it isshownfin broken lines in- Fig. 4. l

Jorlriialedfirrthe lower `end of the member 5 andextendng transverselybetween the parallel arms cf thelatter is a pawl shaft' 27 whichcarriesfa'seriesl ofpawls 28, 29, BO-andl. These pawls'respectiv'elyengage the ratchet wheels 10, 11, 12-and 13, andare so relativelyvarranged to each-other and-to theratchet wheels'that when'thepawl 28engages the peripheral face of the.v ratchet WheelflO', thefremainingpawls, as shown-inf-Figs. 1 1 `Y and 4,1-are held away. fromengagernent" with the teeth' of their respective -assoc'iated ratchetwheels. Similarly, when I the pawl29-engages the face of theratchetwheel 11,the-pawls'30and 31 must-necessarily be held out'VV of contactwith their 'respective ratchet wheels; land the-samev condition prevailsbetween the pawls 30wand 31 Land their respective ratchet wheels.``Under thisparrangement, the only timev atfwhich-"thezfpawl 29fmaycontact' with. its ratchet wheell is .when the pawl 28 entersthe recess18 of its associated ratchetA wheel. Similarly, the pawl 30 is permittedto contact With-the ratchetfwheel112-V only when both the pawls A28and29 occupythe recess 18 of the ratchetnwheels10and'll; and contactbetween the pawl 31; andvtherratchet=13 ispermitted only when-the otherpawls4 occupy the respective recesses.` A- spring 32 on the pawl shaft27 has its opposite ends engaging the cross arm of to the pawl shaft 27that the pawls may enter the U-shaped member 5, while its other armengages behind the pawl 31, see Fig. 4, this spring thereby exerting apressure tending to swing the pawl shaft about its axis to bring thepawls into engagement with the ratchet wheels. Forward movement of themember 5 is limited by a stop pin 33 extending between the side plates2, 2, see Fig. 4.

The parts of the mechanism described above are so relatively arrangedthat when the three zero facets of the number disks 15, 16 and 17 are inalignment, the recesses 18 of the associated ratchet wheels 10, l1 and12 are also in alignment, and when the rthree number kdisks 15, 16 and17 so aligned are turned'to a predetermined position, say with the threezero facets uppermost, the recesses 18 of the ratchet wheels 10, 1l and12 are in alignment with the recess 18 of the ratchet wheel 13.position, the recesses are so` located withrespect the recesses wherebythey are collectively effective to engage their ratchet wheels when themember 5 is oscillated by movement of the lever, 4. When, for example,in this relative positionv of the parts the lever 4 is depressed from anelevated position to the position in which it is shown in the drawings,the resultant movement of the member 5 and of the pawlshaft 27 will,

by reason of the engagement ofthe pawls with their respective ratchetwheels, causer a corresponding rotation of the said` wheels and anelevation `of the outer end of the lever 14 from its normal horizontalposition in which it is shown in Figs. 2 and 4. If now the disk 15 ismanually turned to bring any one of the numbers from one to nine intoalignment with the two Zero facets of the disksl and 17, it will beapparent that the pawl 28 will no longer occupy the recess 18, but willengage the periphery of the ratchet wheel 10 at anotherpoint. Thepawls29, 30 and 31 will thereby be adjusted radially out of engagementwith their respective ratchet wheels so that reciprocation of the leverV4 can result only in a periodic rotation through the pawl 28 of theratchet wheel 10. Each stroke of the arm 4 advances this ratchet wheelto the extentof one tooth and effects a corresponding advance movementof the number disk 15. When this disk has been rotated sufciently tobring the zero facet in line with the already aligned zero facets of thevother disks, the pawl 28 will again enter the recess 18 of the ratchetwheel.; 10, thereby permitting the otherV pawls to reenter the recesses18 @of `the other ratchet wheels so that the subsequent downwardmovement of the lever 4 will resultin a simultaneous movement of all ofthe ratchets 10, 11, 12 and 13, and through the 'ratchet 13 an upwardmovement of the outer end of the lever 14; This upward movement of theouter end of the lever 14, as will be clear from Fig. 4, will cause `thetransverse pin 25 engaging the upper ends of thev pawls 19 to disengageythe pawls from their respective ratchets, so that when the' lever 4 isreleased, the pawls are ineffective to retain the ratchets in theiradvanced position. As a result of thisl release of the detents 19 and ofthe action of the pawls 28, 29, 30 and 31, the ratchets when the lever 4is released will return with the lever 14 to their original positions,and any further oscillation of the lever 4 will result only in acorresponding oscillation of the ratchet wheels. 4

Also in this It will be apparent when the disk 15 has been moved fromthe position originally described inV ofthe lever 4 will result aspreviously described in an elevation of the outer end of the lever 14.Assuming, therefore, that the arm 14 constitutes a trip means forinterrupting the operation of a machine with which the device isassociated, it will be apparent that following the setting `of the disk15 as described, the operationof the Vvmechanism will be interruptedafter the fifth Aoscillation of the said lever 4. It is accordingly behad by adjustment of the disk 16 so that its number one is aligned withthe lzero facet of the disk 15 and the corresponding facet of the disk17. Where more than one hundred operations are required, it isnecessaryy to utilize the disk 17, adjustment of the three disksr sothat one less than the desired number, of Voperations desired appears atthe top `giving the desired results. The mechanism may readily be set byadjustment of the number disks 15, 16 and 17,.

as required.

The device is extremely'simple in form and efficient in operation, Yandin these respects constitutes a` material improvement over similardevices previously used for alike purpose.l

1. In a device of the 'stated character, 'the combination with anormally stationary trip member, of a relatively movable ratchet 'havinga plurality of spaced teeth and a recess serially arranged with `theteeth, an index member connected with said ratchet and movabletherewith, said index member constituting a means 4for indicatingy theposition of the ratchet with respect to the normal position of the tripmember and said index member and ratchet being manually adjustable, apawl having teeth adapted respectively to engage the trip member and theratchet, said teeth being relatively offset so that the one tooth isengaged withthe trip member only when the other tooth enters the recessof said ratchet, means for reciprocating the pawl to actuate the tripmember and ratchet, means normally operative to prevent a` reversemovement of the ratchet with the retractive movement of the pawl, andmeans for rendering said preventing means inoperative when the tooth ofthe pawl associated with the trip Vmember en- 'movement of the tripmember and ratchet.

`2. In a device of the stated character,l the combination with anormally stationary trip member, of a plurality of ratchets movablerelatively to each other and to the trip member and each having aplurality of teeth and a recess in serial arrangement with the teeth, anindex member connected with each of said ratchets and movable therewith,said index members constituting a means for indicating the positions ofthe ratchets with respect to the normal position of the trip member andrespectively representing numerical sequences of different orders, andsaid ratchet and index members being manually adjustable, a pawl havingteeth adapted respectively to engage the ratchets and trip member, saidteeth being relatively olset so that each tooth can engage its ratchetonly when the teeth associated with all of the ratchets of lower orderoccupy the said recesses of the latter, and so that the associated pawltooth can engage the trip member only when all of the other teeth occupythe recesses of their respective ratchets, means for reciprocating thepawl to actuate the ratchets and trip member, means normally operativeto prevent a reverse movement of the ratchets with the retractivemovements of the pawl, and means for rendering said preventing meansinoperative when the tooth of the pawl associated with the trip memberengages the latter, whereby subsequent reciprocations of the pawl effecta corresponding joint movement of the trip member and the ratchets.

3. In a device of the stated character, the combination with a normallystationary ratchet wheel, of a second relatively rotatable ratchet wheelhaving a plurality of circumferentially spaced teeth and a recessintermediate an adjoining pair of said teeth, a digit disc connectedwith the second ratchet and constituting a means for indicating theangular position of the second ratchet with respect to the normalposition of the first ratchet, said second ratchet and disc beingmanually adjustable, a pawl having teeth adapted respectively to engagethe said ratchets, said teeth being relatively oiset so that the onetooth is engaged with the rst named ratchet only when the other toothenters the recess of the second ratchet, means for reciprocating thepawl to actuate the ratchets, means normally operative to prevent areverse movement of said second ratchet with the retractive movement ofthe pawl, and means for rendering said preventing means inoperative whenthe tooth of the pawl associated with the second ratchet engages thelatter, whereby subsequent reciprocations of the pawl effect acorresponding joint oscillation of said ratchets.

SAMUEL J. THACKERAY.

